Basketball Recap: Newman Grove/St. Edward Comes Up Short

Newman Grove/St. Edward was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their sixth straight defeat. They lost 58-33 to the Heartland Lutheran Red Hornets. The Panthers were down 47-24 at the end of the third quarter, and things only got worse from there.

When it comes to explaining why Newman Grove/St. Edward lost, don't look at Kailey Patzel. Despite the final result, she dropped a double-double on 19 points and 19 boards. Patzel's evening made it four games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. Korina Bittner also deserves some recognition as she scored her first point of the season.

Even though they lost, Newman Grove/St. Edward was working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in four consecutive matchups.

Heartland Lutheran was led to victory by Ella Francl and Abigail Uden. Francl dropped a double-double on 17 points and 17 rebounds, while Uden almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine steals. That's the most boards Francl has posted since back in January of 2024. Another player making a difference was Ema Marie Koch, who posted nine points.

Newman Grove/St. Edward's loss dropped their record down to 1-13. As for Heartland Lutheran, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a massive bump to their 6-8 record this season.

Newman Grove/St. Edward wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 44-35 defeat against Fullerton on the 18th. As for Heartland Lutheran, they will get to enjoy the win for a while: their next game is against Red Cloud at 6:00 p.m. on January 28th.